The sale of prize-winning animals at the show garnered $788,821, while the 3,338 head of livestock that did not win prizes were sold to various buyers for $392,369.

Total sales for the prize-winning animals were 18 percent less than the 1987 total of $960,808.

But with record attendance at the show, members of the agricultural community said the decrease was due to a drop in livestock prices rather than a lack of buyers or interest.

Attendance in 1988 was 650,000, compared to 1987’s 450,000 total visitors.

50-Off

A total of five new 50-Off stores opened in Texas in February. Charles Siegel, president of the publicly held company once known as Shoppers World Stores Inc. and now called 50-Off Stores Inc., said that two San Antonio stores and three other Texas stores opened as 50-Off retail stores on Feb. 19, 1988.

Tom Andrews foresees the day when everyone is beeping. Little Johnny will hang a small electronic paging unit from his belt so mom can beep him home for dinner. Babysitters will beep parents in emergencies. And teenages will call home when nudged by silent, vibrating pagers.

A telecommunications specialist, Andrews says the consumer market will be the industry’s salvation. But so far, he has had no luck in convincing manufacturers or dealers to undertake the massive public education campaign he believes is necessary to penetrate the consumer arena.

In the meantime, Andrews is slugging it out with other paging companies for a share of the lucrative business market. He is general manager of 6-month-old AutoPage of San Antonio Inc. which sells and leases paging equipment and cellular mobile telephones. His top-of-the-line Motorola portable cellular telephone sells for $2,200; a pager leases for $12 a month.

Business Notes

Rebecca Harrison, Linda Faye Seiler and Charlotte Franklin have made a business of shopping for other people’s presents. Their company, Reflections of San Antonio, has among its clients Kuper Realty. Reflections sells items to Kuper such as birdhouses decorated with the names and addresses of new homeowners. In its seven years of business, Reflections also has played gift-giver for large corporations welcoming important speakers, and media companies thanking their advertisers. “We are a very specialized service,” Franklin said.

The List

San Antonio architectural firms (Ranked by billings and No. of S.A. registered architects)